Your Business Deserves the Same Quality Ingredients, Patience, and Character as Your Favorite Wine

Recently, my wife and I returned from a trip to Europe. While we were there, I enjoyed some tremendous wines. It got me thinking how fine wine and good business share many characteristics. They both require quality inputs, time to develop, and character, and they need to find the right customers at the right time.

Here are other reasons why your business is like a fine wine:

1. You Don’t Have to Spend a Lot

There’s a lot of wine out there, but price does not always correlate with quality. The biggest name does not always produce the finest work. Similarly, businesses need to be careful how they spend their money. Businesses leaders must consider carefully where and how their raw materials are generated. And you don’t necessarily need to hire the candidate who requires the highest salary. There’s a great deal of quality to be found if you dig a little deeper, and the fit for your company might be even better.

2. Be Smooth

Drinking wine should be a great experience. The flavors should blend with the food and highlight the appropriate notes. The whole experience should come together seemingly effortlessly. A business should also function like a well-oiled machine. The team should coordinate efforts efficiently, and the experience for the customer should be smooth and effortless.

3. Quality Over Quantity

I love wine. And while a lot of wine can be fun, if I’m being serious, I’d much rather have a few sips of excellent, highest quality wine than a bottle of rotgut. Encouraging huge quantity can be fun for a while, and cause a flash in the pan for businesses. But for both businesses and consumers, the short-term gain almost always fizzles out, and carries long-term consequences that make everyone uncomfortable. As wine improves with age and businesses develop slowly, patience will be required. But the payoff will be well worth the effort.

4. Know Your Sourcing

Any good chef knows his vintners and vintages. The chef must know the grapes and the land that produce the wine he uses so he can understand how the flavors will meld and will be able to predict any problems. Likewise, business leaders need to know the people they work with and the resources they use. A big mistake in the beginning of the process filters down throughout the product and almost inevitably reaches the customer, putting your reputation and livelihood at risk.

5. Use an Advisor

Restaurants hire sommeliers because they want their guests to have the best experience possible. They want to ensure that the pairing between wine and food is the best possible match, and that the wine tastes exactly as it should. Business leaders, too, should use advisors. Mentoring is an important part of any leader’s development, ensuring that leaders use their time well, guide their team efficiently, and learn from their mistakes.

6. It’s About Relationships

Just like chefs must ensure that their wines match the foods, businesses must ensure that their products fit their market. You can have excellent quality product, but if it doesn’t work in the context of your target market, your businesses will not succeed. That doesn’t mean you can’t do something a little different; chefs and sommeliers sometimes get creative, and businesses should to. But make sure the proposition is compelling – don’t be different just for the sake of being different.